Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/631

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ORWAY comprises the western and northern divisions of the Scandinavian peninsula. It is bounded N. by the Arctic Ocean, W. by the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea, S. by the Skagerrak, and E. by Sweden, Finland, and Russia. It lies between 57° 59′ (Lindesnæs, or The Naze) and 71° 11′ (Knivskjærodden, close to the North Cape) N. lat. and 4° 30′.5 (Utvær, off Sogne Fjord) and 31° 12′.5 (Renö, adjacent to Vardö) E. long. The length of the coast-line, exclusive of fjords, bays, and islands, is 3018 miles, and the area 122,780 square miles. The country, which has its greatest breadth, 280 miles, at the 61st parallel of latitude, is comparatively narrow, measuring only 70 miles across between the 64th and the 68th parallels.

The Scandinavian peninsula constitutes for the most part a rocky region, of which the loftiest tracts lie on the Norwegian side. The interior of Finmark, the most northerly district of Norway, has no considerable heights; but the frontier between Sweden and Norway, from Tromsö stift (69° N. lat.) to the southern part of Throndhjem stift (63° N. lat.), is marked by a continuous mountain range, called Kjölen (the keel), which, geologically, extends in lower levels still farther south as the frontier between the two countries. In this range are specially conspicuous the alpine regions occupying the interior of Tromsö stift, with peaks reaching a maximum altitude of 5475 feet,—the ice-clad tract of Sulitjelma east of Salten Fjord (6178 feet), the heights east of Throndhjem Fjord (4560 feet), and those east of Röros (4680 feet). From this region the loftiest line of the rocky mass takes a direction bearing west-south west, under the name of the Dovre Fjeld, commencing with a plateau only 2000 feet high, but rising farther west into mountainous tracts like those of Snæhætten, whose summit (7566 feet) was long regarded as the highest in Norway, Rundane (6930 feet), the Jotun Fjelde, where the loftiest peak of Norway, or indeed of northern Europe, occurs (Galdhöpiggen, 8400 feet), and terminating at its western extremity, north of Sogne Fjord, in the snow-field known as Justedalsbræ, where Lodalskaupen reaches the height of 6790 feet. From the Jotun Fjelde the ridge extends southwards, under the name of the Lang Fjelde, comprising the Fille Fjeld (Suletind, 5807 feet; Jökuleggen, 6247 feet), the Hemsedal Fjeld, Hallingskarvet (6430 feet), Hallingjökelen (6539 feet), Hardangervidden (Haarteigen, 6063 feet), and is gradually lost in more moderate elevations towards the extreme south of the country. Thus a glance at the map will show that the ridge of highest points which traverses the Scandinavian peninsula runs almost parallel to the west coast of Norway, and that the lines retain on the whole this relative position in their various deviations. The narrower part of the mountain mass occurs on the side of the ridge facing the Norwegian Sea, the broader part on that facing the Baltic and its arms. In the latter direction, i.e., eastward, the surface of the country presents a comparatively uniform slope, alike in Sweden and in the part of Norway lying south of the Dovre Fjeld and east of the Lang Fjelde. West of the ridge, on the other hand, the rocky mass maintains on the whole a higher elevation, sinking comparatively slowly and here and there in ledges towards the sea, so that in various localities its final descent to the ocean is exceedingly abrupt, or it terminates in lofty precipitous islands.

In Norway the mountainous region constitutes chiefly a vast plateau extending well-nigh over the whole country,

the general outline of which has been noted above. From this tableland rise the summits of the mountains, and the rocky mass itself is intersected by wide fissures, forming valleys, lakes, and fjords. The roads across the mountain ridge traverse the valleys, and hence can afford no standard by which to measure its height. Its elevation is estimated at from 2000 to 4000 feet in different localities. From the position of this mountain ridge it naturally follows that the longest valleys and the longest rivers are found in the “east country,” i.e., the part of Norway lying to the east of the Lang Fjelde and south of the Dovre Fjeld, whereas on the west coast the valleys are invariably short, and many of the fissures are occupied by deep fjords penetrating far into the interior. Such parts of the country as may justly be entitled plains (as, for instance, Romerike in east Norway, and Lister and Jæderen on the south-west coast) are exceedingly limited as to both number and extent. Hence the rivers are navigable only for short distances, and even then only exceptionally by large vessels. It is only in those comparatively frequent cases where the rivers expand into lakes that they can, strictly speaking, be navigated by ships. On the other hand, the waterfalls in Norway are exceedingly numerous, and many of them remarkable for their height, body of water, and great beauty. The most important rivers are enumerated below.